


No Longer Waiting

by Meruchan0720



Category: Merlin (BBC), Merlin (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-25
Updated: 2012-12-25
Packaged: 2017-11-22 10:03:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/608604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meruchan0720/pseuds/Meruchan0720
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin can finally stop waiting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Longer Waiting

**Author's Note:**

> Pairing/s or Main Characters: ArthurXMerlin
> 
> Rating: PG
> 
> Warning/s: Implied established relationship, Reincarnation fiction post-series, Troll!Arthur (not literally a troll)
> 
> Disclaimer: Not mine.
> 
> Author’s note: This was written for the heartbreak I felt after watching Merlin. This is the result of me wanting them to be together.

                In the past thousand or so years, Merlin had been witness to a great many changes that often left him in both amazement and grief. So many things have happened in his very long life. He had not aged since then but he did alter his appearance every once in a while, shifting from one disguise after another as he moved around the world before coming back to Avalon where _he_ was put to rest.

Immortality, he decided, was neither a good thing nor a bad thing – it was just how everything turned out and the people he had met over the years, people that had long gone from this world remain a part of him, forever in his heart and mind that their memories became his joy when the loneliness tended to nearly overcome him. He had been a part of countless people’s lives, watching from afar, giving aid where he could.

He had travelled the world and witnessed so many things, so many wonders, and so many tragedies. He had once thought that the world could no longer surprise him.

Of course, the fates thought to rid him of that illusion, shoving his face in that fact for good measure because right in front of him stood the man he had waited for, the man who had and always would be his destiny, with a painfully familiar glower that set his heart in a punishing pace as if it would burst from his chest.

It didn’t help at all that they were in the crowded street, both their shirts drenched with sticky soda Merlin had grown addicted to over the years (he liked the burn of the liquid down his throat – it reminded him of Gaius’ most foul concoctions – but they tasted a hell of a lot better).

“You clumsy idiot,” he growled, a fierce scowl on his face that made Merlin’s heart clench in remembrance. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

Merlin opened his mouth, wanting to give him a reply that was typically _Merlin_ , but no sound came out. His brain had stopped working altogether.

In front of him, Arthur stood tall, shoulders broad, golden hair shining in the sunlight and blue eyes deep and intense. He didn’t wear Camelot’s armor but he still looked the king he was even if he wore a suit (an expensive one, Merlin had no doubt) and a trench coat over it.

“I knew I should have taken the car,” he was saying, running his fingers through the soft, golden locks Merlin had had the pleasure of touching. He wondered idly if they were as soft as before.

“Oi, you!” Arthur snapped at him impatiently. “Come on, my flat is near here. Let’s get you out of that shirt.”

“Uh, what?” Merlin asked, caught offguard.

Arthur took a deep breath and looked at Merlin as if he was talking to a moron. “You. Come. With. Me,” he enunciated slowly, gesturing with his hands. “Change. Shirts.”

The warlock flushed bright red all the way to his ears, affronted. “I’m not stupid, you know. I can understand you perfectly well.”

“Could have fooled me,” Arthur replied, snippily. “Now, come along, uh, what’s your name?”

“Merlin,” he croaked out.

“ _Really_? You’re not just pulling my leg, are you?” Arthur asked with a skeptical brow raised, though he didn’t wait for a reply and turned away. “You should be thanking me for this.”

And Merlin _was_ , more than Arthur would ever know but deep inside, his heart was breaking upon the realization that Arthur didn’t know him at all.

**meru meru meru Page Break meru meru meru**

                Merlin’s idle guess that Arthur was a wealthy man proved correct as he all but dragged him to a known luxury complex down the street, holding him by the wrist. He couldn’t stop him, couldn’t find the strength to demand that he let him go because he didn’t want him to. It reminded him of those times they went venturing together in the woods, sleeping under the stars for days at a time, bickering with each other.

The flat was tasteful, elegant and warm. It had the same aura that Arthur’s chambers in Camelot had. Splashes of red and gold and heavy oak furniture were in abundance. Pictures of people he didn’t know and paintings of sprawling castles, rolling hills and misty lakes were in frames on the low tables and the walls.

It somehow made him hopeful that Arthur did remember him, albeit subconsciously and it accounted for something (at least, that was what he kept telling himself anyway).

“Here,” said Arthur as he handed him a shirt. “You know where I live so you had better return that shirt, understand? I’m sure it’s worth more than what you earn in a year. The bathroom’s over there and I’ll get you a bag for your shirt.”

Merlin nodded wordlessly and followed his direction. The bathroom was spotless, several products were set neatly near the bathtub and there was only one toothbrush on the sink and Merlin didn’t want to understand why that relieved him beyond measure.

Being alone, finally, made him think about the whirlwind of events that happened in the last several moments. To think that he’d just decided that morning to take a walk, his feet itching to move and there was this building anticipation for something unknown that made his stomach clench. He should have known, really.

He could feel the tears welling in his eyes, threatening to fall at the slightest provocation. He couldn’t stop the pain in his chest as if a knife twisted in his heart at every moment. He was happy, unbelievably so that he finally saw Arthur in the prime of his life, looking every bit as he remembered: tall, haughty, arrogant, magnificent, honorable and reluctantly kind.

But… this was not _his_ Arthur.

He was, _in essence_ , everything that Arthur was and always would be, of that he had no doubt. But this Arthur was not the man he slept with him under the stars, who gave him his fragile and unwavering trust. This was not the man who died in his arms with love shining in his eyes and a small smile on his pale lips.

This was not the man who held his heart for more than a thousand years.

Wiping his eyes with his hands, he took a deep breath to sort himself. He needed to come to terms with this. It was bad enough that the man thought him hopeless and clumsy but it was another thing to be thought insane (which was, ironically, what Arthur thought of him a long time ago – some things just don’t change apparently) and he didn’t want to scare Arthur.

It shouldn’t – _didn’t_ – matter, he told himself over and over again, looking straight into his own eyes. He would always be by Arthur’s side no matter what happens, whether he was wanted or not, even if he had to watch from afar.

And even if Arthur _did_ forget, then they would just have to make new memories together.

He pulled his stained shirt off and put the clean one on, the soft material sliding on his skin, the shirt much larger for his slender frame and hanging off his shoulder and reaching mid-thigh. He looked ridiculous, he decided, looking at the mirror and arranging the shirt so he didn’t look so scrawny in it.

When he got out of the bathroom, his smile was tremulous as he met Arthur down the hall, a plastic bag in his hand. His heart was pounding again and now that his mind was clearer, he wanted nothing more than to just hold Arthur in his arms and listen to his heartbeat for as long as he could. He wanted to hold him so tightly that they would never be torn apart again, missing him so much with every fiber of his being.

“Um, I, uh…,” he started, his voice cracking slightly. “Thank you for this.” He cleared his throat and swallowed the inexistent lump that had formed there. “I, uh, I’ll be sure to return this to you clean.”

He made the mistake of meeting his eyes then, so deep and blue that it felt as if he was drowning in it. He wanted so much to tell him that he was a prat for making him wait that long. He wanted to be angry and to scream and his emotions were becoming too overwhelming that he couldn’t stop his tears from starting again that he had to turn away.

“Oh, for pity’s sake, _Merlin_ , quit being a girl.”

His eyes snapped immediately to Arthur at his words, searching his eyes. The way it was said was exactly how he used to and his heart stuttered in his chest as he held his breath, hope burning through his very soul.

“A-Arthur?” he called uncertainly, voice breathy and soft, afraid almost.

“Who else could I be?”

Before he could stop to think, he threw himself at Arthur, easily caught in the strong circle of his arms as tears streamed freely down his cheeks. “You remember me,” he whispered brokenly as he sobbed, burying his face in the crook of Arthur’s neck and shoulder.

“Of course, I do. I don’t think anyone could forget you even if they wanted to,” Arthur murmured softly, returning his embrace tightly and kissing his temple. “I’ve known since the first time I laid my eyes on you.”

Relief and joy burst in Merlin, flowed and whorled in a tide that made him nearly lightheaded in his elation, laughing with immense gratitude. At least, until he fully comprehended Arthur’s words.

He pushed Arthur at arm’s length, looking at him as if he was betrayed. “You mean you knew who I was all along? And you didn’t say anything?” Merlin balled his fist and punched Arthur in the chest, the man not the least bit fazed with his physical effort. In fact, he looked just about to burst laughing! _‘Oh, wait until I turn you into a frog. Then we’ll see who’s laughing.’_ “You are such a _clotpole_!”

“Do you honestly think I’d invite just _anybody_ to my flat, Merlin? Consider this a little revenge for lying to me for ten years.”

“What?!” Merlin squawked indignantly. “I thought I was forgiven for that!”

“Merlin, I was dying,” Arthur pointed out condescendingly. “I didn’t want to leave any regrets and I certainly didn’t want to leave things unsaid between us.”

Merlin stared at him, not comprehending at all.

“I meant every word I said to you that night,” Arthur stated seriously, pulling him again closely. “ _But_ , had I lived, you’d be in the stocks for a month for lying to me.”

“Y-you… I can’t believe this… you… _immature_ dollophead,” Merlin stuttered disbelievingly before his shoulders sagged in resignation, eyes rolling in fond exasperation. “Well, am I forgiven now? _Again_?”

Arthur seemed to think on it and Merlin watched him with growing trepidation until he was gifted with a bright smile.

“Only if you kiss me.”

And Merlin fought to keep his face straight and stern but it was utterly ruined when he chuckled and pulled Arthur by his nape, tugging him close and pressing their lips in the barest of touches.

Arthur was far from satisfied when he pulled away. In fact, he looked downright offended, his eyebrow raised. “Is that the best you can do?”

Merlin laughed outright, the tears flowing freely again but a smile on his face. He laid his head on Arthur’s shoulder, looking up at him.

“I missed you so much.” _‘I waited for you.’_

“I missed you, too.” _‘So did I.’_

_END  
_

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s Note: Comments appreciated.


End file.
